# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1927_S15 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) THE LUTHERAN PIONEER. 15 Playing around a Corpse. — Some years ago, in an American city, a mother suddenly died with no one in the house but two small children, who were found playing around the dead body just as un- concerned as though nothing had happened. — But something more tragic and pitiful than this is seen by the Savior when He sees professing Christians coming into constant contact with those who are worse than dead through sin and neglecting to do anything to turn their hearts to Him. Sacrifices That Count. The average salary of the natives in India is the equivalent of 10 cents a day for a man and four cents a day for a woman. In other words, a young woman in our country who works in a business oflice receives, on the average, more in four or five days of eight hours than a woman in India receives for a whole year of ten- and twelve-hour days. And yet, in spite of poverty which actually passes our understanding, the Christian natives determinedly express their gratitude for the Word of Life by sacrifices which are the product of a real and dynamic faith. At the annual harvest-festival, for example, the converted natives, having very little of their own, bring rice, cocoanuts, eggs, limes, and other fruits and vegetables as a thank- offering to the Lord. When Pastor IF. Brand, Director of our For- eign Missions, was in India; he attended such a harvest-festival at one of the small mission- stations. When the usual offerings were brought to the table in the chapel, which served as altar, one woman came forward with a large bowl of rice. The missionary remonstrated with her and did not want to accept the offering because of the extreme poverty of the woman, who was a widow and had a family to support. But the woman said she had saved this “for the Lord” and insisted that it be accepted. When asked how she could save so much from the meager rice allowance granted her by her employer, she explained that every evening when she measured aud cooked the smali portion of rice for her family, she put aside a little “for the Lord.” In the course of a year she had saved the amount she now brought as a thank-offering. How many Christians are there in our Church whose gifts to the Lord even approach the spirit of sacrifice evidenced by that consecrated Hindu woman? — Good News. Facts Concerning Chinese Missions. The 400,000 deaf in China never received any instruction until the missionaries opened a school at Chefoo, where they taught modern methods of lip-reading and also prepared pupils to make a liv- ing by lace-making, carpentry, and gardening while teaching them the one thing needful. The first place in all China where the insane were given any care and received scientific treat- ment was established at Canton by a missionary. The General Synod of the Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui, the Chinese Episcopal Church, has its own missionary program and without any foreign aid is supporting three missionaries in Shensi. Chinese graduates of the first school for the blind, opened by missionaries in Canton, are teach- ing blind children in nine cities. BOOK TABLE. Lutheran Catechism. By Christopher Drewes. Edition. Rudolph Volkening, St. Louis, Mo. 30 cts. Those who have examined Pastor Drewes’s exposition of Luther’s Small Catechism will not be surprised to hear that the fourth edition has left the press. This explana- tion has a number of qualities that make it unique among Lutheran catechisms. Pastor Drewes wrote the book by request of the Mission Board of the Synodical Conference, which wanted as simple a catechism as possible to be used in the Colored Mission schools. Fourth Price, Daily Bread. By Rev. I’. E. Pasche. - ing House, St. Louis, Mo. Bound in blue morocco-, grained cloth. 422 pages. Price, $3.00. Every time a new book of devotion appears on .the market we rejoice; for to us it is a sure indication that there are still a number of family altars around which God’s people gather for worship. This new devotional book gives the family an opportunity to review the Cate- chism truths for their instruction and edification in 318 short, interesting lessons, each of which is provided with a brief prayer and a hymn stanza. Among the lessons are also some on subjects like the following: “Our Synod and Its Work,” “Our Colleges and Seminaries,” “Our Mis- sion- fields,” “Materialism,” “Evolution,” ete. Just be- cause of these special informal discussions of subjects that have a particular appeal and value in our day the book is of more than ordinary value. Concordia Publish- The Battle of the Bible with the “Bibles.” By William Dallmann, D. D. Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. Bound in dark silk cloth with gilt stamping. 66 pages. Price, 60 cts. We thank the English District of the Missouri Synod for suggesting to the faculty of Concordia Seminary that it confer on the writer of this little book the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and we thank the faculty for heeding the suggestion; for unless this had been done, we would be without this valuable product of Dr. Dallmann’s pen. Though the book contains only sixty-six pages, this small space suffices the author to tell us what are the principal, outstanding characteristics of the various religions in the world.